July 2012

There is an old saying that building your business comes down to the 3 Rs – you Reputation, your Relationships and whether you have had Recent personal contact.

LinkedIn can help you to highlight your experience and achievements, make connections with current and old contacts, share some recent developments with your LinkedIn community and stay connected with your contacts.

Reputation:
People use LinkedIn to find out a little bit about you before they engage with you. Having an up to date, and expansive LinkedIn profile, shows off your working life achievements and makes it easier for people you are dealing with, to get a sense of who you are, and makes it very easy for people to find out about you, which they want to do before they meet you

Relationships:
LinkedIn is a social media site – its strength is connecting people. Over the last two years, with its rapid growth and uptake by business people around the globe, it is easier than over to connect with clients, colleagues and reconnect with lost contacts.

Recent contact:
Connecting is only the start – you need to be in touch, or offering new information to your contacts to stay in touch with you and your business.

Who has been viewing your profile on LinkedIn is an indicator that your relationships and reputation are helping you to connect with clients, colleagues and lost contacts.

Many LinkedIn users report that knowing who has been viewing their profile is an indicator that they will be contacted in the next few days – by a current or potential client, colleague, or lost contact. It is one way to know if you are on the radar of a wide range of contacts.

Linkedin.com can help you to promote your reputation and build your relationships. It works well, before or after you have met in person. It works best when used with personal contact.